Becoming your best self inside, helping the Earth outside

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It originated in India about 5,000 years ago
Even though it’s just become super popular, the practice has been around for a long time.

It can help reduce pain in the body.
Certain poses can be used consistently to strengthen your muscles, for example, in your back to reduce back pain.

There are different kinds of yoga.
It’s not just about slowly moving through poses which some think is “boring”. There is also fast paced yoga called Vinyasa which keeps you moving through asanas fairly quickly.

“Yoga” means to “unite” in Sanskrit
Sanskrit is the original language for yoga. You can think of this union in any way you like. The mind, body and spirit, you and the world around you- whichever union you prefer to keep you motivated.

Each yoga pose (asana) has its own original name in Sanskrit.
For example, the wheel pose is called Urdva Dhanurasana.

As a woman, I’ve grown up to learn that there are different “body types”, especially for women. I’m sure the majority of us have heard the terms “pear” and “hourglass” in the context of what people’s bodies can look like. These terms aren’t only female- exclusive. The “upside down triangle” shape is also related to men, for example. Many men strive to get that big shoulders “V” look. This post however, focuses on slightly different terms for body type.

So recently I came across the fact that there are three main body types in fitness, and knowing yours could help you target how you should train and exercise. So, I researched this and thought okay, this is interesting.

The three different body types are Endomorph, Ectomorph and Mesomorph.

Endomorph- high body fat, usually hard to get rid of body fat

Ectomorph- long and lean body, can be hard to build muscle

Mesomorph- muscular, high metabolism

You can, however, be between these body types, and usually that can be the case. This website helps you calculate which “body type” you have, click here to take the test.

I found this quite interesting and will definitely be looking into this to perhaps tailor my workouts to the “body type” I have and see how it goes! Stay tuned for more information on this.

A friend of mine, fellow animal lover, recently sent me a message about this story and said she thought I might want to spread the word about it. Sure enough, I read it and thought, well if I didn’t know that there is still such a large illegal sales of animals online, then I can’t be the only one.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare conducted a 6 week study across 100 online marketplaces in the UK, France, Germany and Russia. They found more than 5,000 adverts adding to over £3 million for over 12,000 items. ALL of these items were banned or restricted by the global convention International Trade in Endangered Species. This figure, although massive, is less than in previous years, however, there is still much more work to be done to eradicate this issue.

Many of these adverts were for live animals like leopards, cheetahs, orangutans and many more. Among these were also adverts for big cat and bear skins.

Why is this bad?
Because these animals have been illegally taken from their homes, their families, not cared for and sold for who knows what purpose. The skins have been illegally made from again, poor defenseless animals, all to be sold for profit. The people selling them don’t care about the animals’ welfare or rights. These animals deserve to live in the wild, with their families and live for as long as they can.

Here’s a few things we can all do to help try and rid the world of illegal animal/ wildlife trade:

Check certifications. If you see any endangered species being sold or advertised, report it! Spread the word! Get it shut down. I’ve heard that WildLeaks allows you to anonymously report wildlife crimes and make concrete actions out of your reports.

Buy products that are certified as sustainable. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) provides a logo to products based on its global forest certification system. Items with the logo or FSC approved show that they are:
– Produced from recycled materials or from areas that are well managed
– Trees that are cut are replanted
– Workers are paid fairly
– Any indigenous people in the area are regarded and not disturbedFind out more about the FSC here.

Buy fish from sustainable sources. As mentioned in a previous post of mine, “Earth Day” (Click here to read) I mentioned that over-fishing is a problem for our oceans and is responsible for the depletion of fish species. If we buy fish from sustainable sources (for example, fish products bearing the MSC – Marine Stewardship Council – Logo) the fish stocks and their habitats are maintained and looked after, and the logo ensures the livelihoods of fishing communities are secure. Find out more about the MSC here.

Sign petitions for you local government to stop illegal wildlife/ ivory trade. The UK have recently announced that they will have one of the strictest ivory restrictions in the world. A great win, which we must keep trying to achieve globally. Each person can make a difference.

I believe humans need to do all that we can to help animals. They can’t speak for themselves so we need to speak for them. I hoped this post has taught you something new and has hopefully inspired you!

Crufts, for those that haven’t heard of it, is “The World’s Greatest Dog Show”. It’s held in the UK every year, and the first year of Crufts was 127 years ago in 1928.

This year, March 2018 I attended two out of the four days of Crufts. I didn’t go there to show my dog or anything I just went to experience it and see all the doggos. I went with my auntie and my nan for the first day and then just me and my auntie went for the second day. I know that there is a lot of bad things that can be said about dog shows, but just talking solely about my experience, I saw a lot of love.

I loved Crufts. As a dog lover I mainly loved just seeing and touching so many dogs. I saw dogs being shown and that was great. I got to stand there and go “ooh” and “ah look at that one!” but one of my favourite parts was walking through where the contestant dogs were just chilling and taking pictures and touching them. I got to cuddle a lovely Rottweiler who had won one of his competitions and he was lovely! I also met a lot of other dogs and owners all of which were great and friendly. What I would say is, if there are any Crufts officials reading, I personally think they should hire people to walk through where the dogs are waiting to be shown and keep them company. I saw a lot of dogs on their own, and although I understand as an owner, you’ve got to leave them to buy food, go to the toilet etc. But if there are officials just keeping them company for a few minutes each if they’re not asleep, I think it could help make the day more enjoyable for the dogs.

My other favourite part was walking through the “Discover Dogs” section. Basically, every breed of dog had its own stall-type area with some dogs of that breed inside with some humans who knew a lot about the breed. You were able to walk from stall to stall asking questions, learning and touching all these dogs, most of which I’d never seen before. It was an awesome learning experience and it made me love dogs even more (if that’s even possible!) as they were meeting so many strangers and they were all so friendly and well behaved! Another thing I would say is to make the area for the dogs bigger so they have more space to walk around as they are there being looked at and stroked for so long. Given the size of some of the dogs, to make it better for them, they need a bigger space.

Here’s a couple of pictures just to document my Crufts 2018 experience.

Unfortunately, these pictures don’t do these dogs justice! Especially the colour of their eyes, some had the most beautiful blue eyes but you can’t see them very well in the pictures! These things happen but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless.

I’d just like to begin by saying hello and welcome and I’m sorry I was gone for a few weeks! For those of you that don’t know, I am in my last year of university and when people say the last year is full of stress, ‘they’ weren’t messing around! I tried really hard to manage my time and keep writing for this blog but basically, it got to a point where all of my deadlines were approaching (it’s so annoying that almost all the deadlines are ‘strategically’ placed around the same time) and I just had to prioritise those essays and presentations. BUT, do not fret because I am now ALL FINISHED (woohoo!) and I am back here for you all.

I’m so excited to have finished uni because suddenly I have much more free time on my hands! I do need to start looking around and thinking about if I want to study for a masters (which I’ve always said I did not want to do) or look to get a full-time job. It’s quite a hard decision I think though, because if I start looking for a job, WHICH job do I want? What kind of sector would I like to go into? I don’t know. My degree is of business and Spanish and one day I would love to become fluent in Spanish. However, this is quite a broad degree and I could do a variety of jobs with it. I also don’t really fancy studying for another year, to be honest. I’ve got a question for you all, have you got a masters qualification? Do you think they are useful/ beneficial? I’m currently debating doing an online masters, to give me a bit more freedom to work, still get another qualification and get more skills.

It’s a difficult time because, as I was told not that long ago, “the world is your oyster.” And now I’ve finished university, I’ve gotta make some big decisions. Sometimes the weight of making these decisions that are key to my life can be quite scary, but I’m trying to not think about how important they are and just take searching at my own pace. After all, this time now is also for me to enjoy. I’m going to get back into fitness (which is another thing I’ve neglected due to deadlines), going to do some reading, maybe some painting and enjoy my hobbies again. What do you all do to relax and enjoy your time? If you have any good book recommendations, feel free to send them my way!

Thanks for reading,

Maria

❤️

About

Yoga Journey by Maria is a blog that explores different aspects of the creator’s journey in to a life of yoga and striving to be her best self. Click here to read more.

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